The application of facial makeup is a long-standing and well-known custom and process in the art. Through the years a variety of materials and styles as well as application processes for applying eye makeup have been employed. Most modern facial makeup materials and processes utilized one or more general facial area makeup materials together with several additional materials known in the art collectively as “eye makeup”. General facial material makeup is applied to relatively large skin areas including the skin area beneath the user's eyes. Eye makeup is typically applied to the user's eyelashes, eyelids, eyebrows, upper and lower eye region.
One of the more vexing problems often encountered during the application of eye makeup arises due to the powered or particulate character of many eye makeup materials. As this powdered or particulate material is applied a portion of the eye makeup material tends to fall downwardly upon the facial skin areas beneath the user's eyes. This problem is exacerbated by the dark and vivid colors which characterize most eye makeup contrasted with the subtle more generally neutral colors of the skin surface makeup applied to facial areas beneath the eye. Thus, even a small amount of eye makeup powder or particulate falling upon the skin beneath the user's eye can discolor the skin and can prove to be difficult to remove or cover.
Recognizing the problems associated with eye makeup fallout during application, practitioners in the art have endeavored to provide various protective shields which are intended to cover and protect the facial skin beneath the eye during eye makeup application. Unfortunately, many of the prior art makeup shields provided are fabricated of a disposable material temporarily attached to the user's skin beneath the eye utilizing various adhesives. Such devices have proven to be subject to several problems and limitations and have, for the most part, proven to be generally unsatisfactory. Typically, adhesive attachment of such shields proves to be awkward and uncomfortable for the user. In addition, the adhesive attachment adherence to the user's skin often results in pulling the user's skin during protective shield removal. This pulling stretches the user's skin and often damages the applied makeup. In addition to problems of discomfort and skin pulling caused by adhesive attachment, the adhesive materials themselves often prove to be undesirable due to sensitivity of many users to the adhesive material and in some instances actual allergy problems arises. Further limitation in the practicality of such disposable adhesively attached protective makeup shields arises in the economics of their use. Because such shields are disposable and intended for single use, they often prove to be costly and uneconomical for the user.
In a related art, U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,814 issued to Burke sets forth a MASCARA APPLICATION SHIELD AND HAND-HELD SHIELD HOLDER for aiding in the application of mascara to the user's lower eyelash. The shield holder described therein includes a manually-engageable handle on its lower end and a spoon-shaped panel on its upper end. It is curved from top to bottom. The shield holder releasibly holds a mascara shield made of soft, flexible sheet material provided with repositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive. The mascara shield is held under the eyelashes when mascara is being applied to avoid deposit of the mascara on the skin below the eyes. The handle is long enough and curved enough to hold the shield in place when it is positioned by hand, without interfering with the mascara-applying hand.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided some benefit to the user, they remain subject to several limitations and problems. Accordingly, there remains a continuing and unresolved need in art for an improved method and apparatus for dealing with eye makeup fallout during the makeup application process.